Epifanes Brand Clear Spar Varnish over Laurel Mountain Forge Brand Cherry Stain, 1911 Firewall Restoration

[NorthSouth]

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After receiving brilliant advice on "refinishing my 1911 Touring Car's two-piece firewall" from several generous and well seasoned Model T-ers, I will be proceeding with the following products;

Laurel Mountain Forge Brand Cherry Stain, 4oz $31.13 including shipping. Contact; rschreiber@laurelmountainforge.com
and
Epifanes Brand Clear Spar Varnish, 250 ml, $27.87 including shipping. Bought on Amazon

You can read why and how to best apply these products in the comments below.


ORIGINAL POST
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Hello Fellow Model T-ers,

Would any of you know what type of “final clear finish sealer” (shellac, varnish, urethane, epoxy) I should put on my 1911 Touring Car’s two piece dash/firewall after it is stained?


I will soon be refinishing the two-piece wood firewall/ dash on my 1911 Touring Car. There are example photos of the current front side and the back below.

Would anyone here be able to steer me to the correct 'wood stain color' and a good product to use? I would also like to know what type finish (shellac, varnish, urethane, etc) to use on top of the stain? It would be nice to get this right the first time. Smiles.

Thank you in advance for any guidance you might be able to offer.
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[Bill Elliott]

I have used Laurel Mountain Forge Cherry stain on all my early T's. It looks amazing, and was the closest match to the original stain I discovered under the coilbox on an original dash I had. It's not cheap but the little plastic bottle will go a long way.

[Bill Elliott]

[TWrenn]

Agreed. As has been researched and posted many times before, seems the Laurel Mountain Forge cherry stain is as close to original as it gets. Got it on my '13, my '11 Torpedo looks like it is but not gonna mess with it for now.

[NorthSouth]

Follow up question;

Would any of you know what type of “final clear finish sealer” (shellac, varnish, urethane, epoxy) I should put on my 1911 Touring Car’s two piece dash/firewall after it is stained.

[kevinf]

Ok this may be akin to answering the age old question about what kind of oil to run in a Model T, but I'll take a stab at it.
I am a hobby wood worker and built a York depot hack body for a '24 chassis.
Urethane and epoxies certainly have a place where a very durable finish is needed, such as a table top, but I feel they are a bit hard and brittle and unforgiving if a repair or touch up is needed, and I am not a real fan of the built up plastic look.
Shellac and lacquer are quick and easy to apply but don't hold up real well, especially when exposed to any moisture, pretty much an indoor choice.
That leaves oil and varnish, (real true spar varnish). Oil is slow to apply, easy to repair holds up well, but would be a real pain on something the size of your firewall, although I have used it on furniture. That leaves varnish, easy to apply, holds up well, easily repaired, and most importantly to me on a project like this it doesn't look plastic.
I chose to do my entire hack with the best varnish that Sherman Williams had and haven't regretted it.
Looks like your stain is solvent based so it shouldn't be a problem with any top coat you choose.
All the best,
Kevin

[Pat Branigan Wisc]

If the firewall is veneer be very careful not to sand to much or you might find the core wood under it. Bill your 10 looks GREAT!

[R.V.Anderson]

I use Minwax UV resistant spar urethane on my coil boxes, either a gloss or satin finish as chosen by the customer. I also used it on my '14 dash. The gloss is more weather resistant.

[TWrenn]

Same here RV...this is one case where first, I too have no idea what came "off the line" in the way of a top coat finish, and to a certain point, I don't care..at least when it comes to the beautiful cherry firewall. It's out in the sun somewhat, like 1500 miles worth of sun a year, occasionally, albeit rarely, in some rain, so I chose the gloss urethane for ultimate durability. Plus, it just looks great!

[otrcman]

Here is an article out of Fine Woodworking Magazine which talks about numerous finishes, including shellac. I was recently faced with the same dilemma for finishing the wooden window trim for an antique airplane. I ultimately chose to use shellac with no further topcoat. It looks beautiful. The plus for straight shellac is that it gives a very rich finish with easy application and repairability. The minus is that it's not as durable for long term outdoor exposure.

https://www.finewoodworking.com/forum/s ... -a-topcoat

[JRSpada4]

I would go with a good quality spar varnish. Polyurethane is too “plastic” looking for my taste and can be brittle when fully cured. When I rebuilt a set of wheels a few years ago, I looked at Minwax, but read somewhere that is was good for outdoor wood, like doors and windows, as long as they were protected from rain. Then I found somewhere on the forum to look for varnishes from marine suppliers. I ended up going with Epifanes spar varnish. It costs nearly twice what the minwax does, but you end up with a beautiful finished piece that is water and UV resistant. The first coat is thinned 50%, the second is thinned 25%, and subsequent coats go on unthinned. Scuff the surface with 0000 steel wool between coats. It lays easily and very flat with a natural bristle brush.

[NorthSouth]

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Thank you all for your useful comments.
Steven
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After receiving brilliant advice on "refinishing my 1911 Touring Car's two-piece firewall" from several generous and well seasoned Model T-ers, I will be proceeding with the following products;

Laurel Mountain Forge Brand Cherry Stain, 4oz $31.13 including shipping. Contact; rschreiber@laurelmountainforge.com
and
Epifanes Brand Clear Spar Varnish, 250 ml, $27.87 including shipping. Bought on Amazon

You can read why and how to best apply these products in the comments below.
-

[John Codman]

I redid two of my T's wood spoked wheels seven and six years ago respectively. I used MinWax Helmsman Spar Urethane. It looks pretty much the same as when I completed doing them. I was lazy - the directions call for two or even three coats, sanding with fine grit paper between coats. I slapped on one coat that was as heavy as I could without running the Urethane. If I live long enough I'll do the other two wheels the same way.

[NealW]

Has anyone used a HVLP gun to spray thinned varnish on their firewall or wood coil box, or is using a good brush with thinned varnish work best?

[jiminbartow]

Spar varnish is a great choice and it is the best, period correct clear finish to use for this application. Shellac is also period correct, but, while it leaves a beautiful dark amber finish, it does not hold up well to the weather, as it has a tendency to turn white when it gets wet. Urethane or epoxy are the best weather resistant clear finishes, but are not period correct. Jim Patrick